


skeleton flowers

by naktoms



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, M/M, also another tlou au everyone whos read save yourself already KNOWSSSS, i mean the zombies arent that important but theyre mentioned a lot, you dont need to have a lot of knowledge abt tlou to read tho
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-01
Updated: 2015-12-01
Packaged: 2018-05-04 07:37:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5326046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/naktoms/pseuds/naktoms
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hyungwon didn't know that this was the sort of world where flowers bloomed and people loved.</p>
            </blockquote>





	skeleton flowers

**Author's Note:**

> hAHAHA,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, hey yall  
> "jesse when the FUCK will you stop writing hyungwonho" WHEN IT STOPS BEING SO REAL IN MY LIFE BYE  
> this was supposed to turn out a lot darker and sadder but i stopped today and whispered "theyre so soft and happy i cant kill them now" so. the original purpose of me writing this fic was not realized. nobody fuckign died  
> ANYWAY. kudos + comments are appreciated!!! i hope you enjoy!!

They meet with a gun between them.

Hyungwon is taller, though not by much, staring down the barrel of his gun at the man he could kill in just a couple seconds. His eyes flick down, at the dog tags shining silver at the man’s neck, Firefly band crudely tied around his upper arm. Killing a Firefly would certainly give him some much-needed brownie points around the military academy.

But, he doesn’t give a shit about the military academy and whatever temporary perks he’d get from such a success. And anyway, he only has one bullet. He could easily use it on an infected and save his life rather than end someone else’s.

Hyungwon waves the gun to the side. “Go.”

“Really? Just like that?”

Hyungwon rolls his eyes. “I could change my mind, you know.”

So, he’s gone, and Hyungwon is safe for now, walking back towards the wall of the Q.Z. because the sun is setting and they’ll have his ass if he’s back after curfew. If anyone hears about this, Hyungwon will be put on bathroom cleaning duty for months.

Hyungwon shoves his pistol in its holster and thinks that it’s worth it despite the risk. His mother would be proud of him, because small mercies are life changing in this world.

Hyungwon sees him again in the same place, an abandoned house just outside the wall.

“You again?” Hyungwon asks, and smiles when he jumps. “Sup. What’s your name?”

“Why do you care?”

Hyungwon strides over, lifting the man’s dog tags into the light before he can move away. “Shin Hoseok.” Hyungwon reads, nodding.

“Call me Wonho.”

“Okay, _Wonho_. I’m Hyungwon.” Hyungwon stretches out his hand, and Wonho takes it cautiously. “What brings you back here?”

“One of my friends came through here the other day just for the hell of it and lost his band.” Wonho says. “He asked me to come get it for him and I can’t find it, so whatever. It’s not like it’s required, but they appreciate it.”

“I see. I’ll keep an eye out for it.”

“What about you, why are you here?”

In response, Hyungwon pulls a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket, waving them slightly. “If I got caught with cigarettes inside the wall, I’d have tons of people asking me for one. Fuck that shit.”

Wonho nods with a smile. “Are you one of those military brats?”

“Guess so.” Hyungwon replies, taking a cigarette butt from yesterday out of the pack and lighting it so he can finish it off. “It’s by virtue of having nothing else to do. I’m actually not young enough to be a brat anymore.”

“Ah, an old man then?” Wonho offers, and Hyungwon nods thoughtfully.

“Sounds good to me. Were your parents Fireflies?”

“Mmhm. They died a couple months ago.”

“Sorry. Mine did too.”

“Sorry.”

They settle into a pleasant sort of silence, and really, Hyungwon is thankful to be talking to someone that doesn’t look half dead. He voices this thought and Wonho laughs, echoing the sentiment.

Soon after, someone comes calling Wonho’s name, and Wonho almost looks hesitant to go. “They’ll yell at me if they catch me talking to a military kid, sorry,” Wonho says with a wink, and Hyungwon sticks his tongue out at him.

“Fine, I’ll smoke by myself. Fuck off.” Hyungwon says, grinning to let Wonho know he’s kidding. Wonho smiles in return and waves over his shoulder, jogging off towards the source of the voice.

Eventually, Hyungwon can see Wonho and his buddy’s figures in the distance, and he watches until they disappear, becoming nothing more than colored dots. He closes his eyes and wishes he could disappear as well.

Once upon a time, when a Quarantine Zone was abandoned by the government, the residents would be relocated to a safer Q.Z. and given a little extra help when they arrived. But, as food, money, and utilities grew slim and few, and as the government slowly started caring less about anything that wasn’t Seoul, citizens were left on their own.

Hyungwon thought that the Ulsan Q.Z. was well protected and that the government cared enough about its few remaining resources to fight for it. But, the instant they have a horde slip through one of the government checkpoints, it’s all over.

The horde is eliminated by the government and then they leave. Hyungwon knows why they left, and everyone else does too; there’s no point in kidding themselves by saying that the soldiers will be back.

While some people have only ever known the Ulsan Q.Z. and the hovering of the soldiers in the streets, Hyungwon has spent enough time outside the wall that this is practically nothing to him. He packs up everything he can from his room in the academy dorms and then leaves just like the army did.

He doesn’t know where he’s going. He’s, for once, very thankful of the gaudy military coat he was given at the beginning of his academy education; the wind is cruel and stings his cheeks, signalling the oncoming winter.

It is when the wind picks up and causes his eyes to water that he realizes he may not survive the winter. More than a little disconcerting.

Once he enters the sparse cover of the trees some few miles outside of the Q.Z. wall, he sits down on the cold ground and sighs, letting his head fall back against the trunk of a tree. He doesn’t think he’s ever felt so hopeless, but somehow so happy.

_At least I don’t have to ever scrub another toilet_.

Hyungwon sleeps there, thick wool blankets tucked tightly around himself so that the wind doesn’t carry them away. He keeps his gun in his hand, trusting himself to wake up if an infected comes too close. Otherwise, well… at least he wouldn’t have to worry about winter.

He wakes up to someone draping a jacket over his shoulders and blinks the sleep out of his eyes, a little slower on the draw knowing that his company is of the alive variety. He sits up and sees first the Firefly band, then the face.

“Oh, it’s you,” Hyungwon grumbles, and Wonho glances over.

“Yeah, it’s me. You really shouldn’t sleep out in the cold, not when you’re alone.”

Hyungwon shrugs in response. “I’m not alone right now, can I go back to sleep?”

“Not if you wanna come with me.”

Hyungwon makes a face. “If you take me to the Fireflies, they will kill me, no questions asked.”

Wonho shakes his head. “You’re from the Ulsan Q.Z.. They sent a party out to collect survivors willing to come along this morning.”

“Were you part of it?”

“Nope. I came looking for you.”

This news makes Hyungwon feel odd. He hasn’t been cared for in the slightest by anyone in years. “Oh,” Hyungwon replies lamely, in the end, scratching the back of his head. “Uh. Thank you. Do you want your jacket back?”

“Sure,” Wonho says, reaching for it. Hyungwon shrugs it off and hands it over, purposefully brushing his fingertips across Wonho’s knuckles as he does so. Wonho smiles at him.

Hyungwon folds his blankets up to shove back in his pack and stands slowly, stretching stiffness out and shivering at the cold air now reaching him. Wonho looks at him, seemingly concerned, and Hyungwon gives him a thumbs up.

“I’m fine,” Hyungwon says quietly, just a reassurance. It seems to help.

Hyungwon realizes while he’s trailing along behind Wonho that he’s never actually met a living Firefly that wasn’t Wonho. He’s only seen corpses as a result of well-intentioned extremism or military raids, carried through the streets to the graves outside the wall. He also realizes that he’s somewhat scared.

The Firefly settlement is just a reclaimed rural town, a chain link fence towering at least seven feet high around it. It’s clear that the Fireflies intend to keep the town as long as possible.

Wonho informs Hyungwon that you have to climb over the fence, an activity Hyungwon is no stranger to, and thus they’re inside within a couple minutes. Wonho shouts into the empty air to let the guards know that he is back and a small group of Fireflies come to meet them.

“Who’s he?” The tallest asks, waving a hand to Hyungwon.  Hyungwon opens his mouth to reply, but Wonho holds up a finger. Hyungwon decides that yes, it’s probably best for Wonho to handle this.

“He’s from the Ulsan Q.Z.. I found him in the woods a couple miles outside the wall. He’s the guy that saved my life a couple months ago.”

A murmur of remembrance spreads through the group and they gesture for Hyungwon and Wonho to follow. Hyungwon still makes a point of walking closer to Wonho, and once they’re in the main part of town Wonho links their arms together.

A reassurance. Hyungwon smiles.

They’re taken to a house with a painted wooden sign claiming it to be “CITY HALL :)!!”, which Hyungwon thinks is rather charming. Wonho leans over and whispers in his ear that it was made by one of the kids.

In this City Hall, they meet the leader of this subgroup of Fireflies, Hyunwoo. He has a kind voice and knowing eyes and there are callouses on his hands that rub against Hyungwon’s skin when Hyunwoo takes his hands in his. Hyungwon likes him from the start.

“So, were you military?” Hyunwoo asks conversationally, and everyone else in the house pauses their own conversations to look at Hyungwon expectantly.

“Oh, uh. Yeah, I was.” Hyungwon looks to Wonho, almost for help, a silent plea of is this okay? “Uh, you don’t really have a choice when you’re basically useless.”

“No need to explain it away.” Hyunwoo says, waving his hand. “I was just curious, since you have the coat. You don’t have to join us, by the way, if you don’t want to. But stay for a few days at least.”

Hyungwon nods, glancing over at the fireplace burning strong at the far wall. “It’s a lot better here than outside, I guess.”

“Agreed. Wonho?”

Wonho raises his head when addressed. “Hm?”

“You live all by yourself in that house due to odd numbers, would you like to take our friend here in while he’s staying here?” Hyunwoo gestures to Hyungwon, and Wonho looks at him and smiles.

“Only if he wants to.”

Hyungwon is well aware that personal space is a myth in the face of wintry weather, but even so Wonho seems reluctant to snuggle too close to Hyungwon, perhaps afraid of making him uncomfortable. Hyungwon waits until Wonho is mostly asleep and pulls him closer with one arm, smiling when Wonho practically clings to Hyungwon, face tucked into his shoulder.

Despite the warmth provided by both thick blankets and Wonho and the relative feeling of security, Hyungwon cannot sleep. Perhaps it’s a product of everything that’s transpired the past couple days, the fall of the Q.Z. Hyungwon has known his whole life and being surrounded by people who stare at him with curious eyes. He ends up staring at the fireplace burning closeby until there’s sunlight peeking through the windows.

Wonho lives in a single room sort of cabin thing, closer to the outskirts of town. The bed is along one wall, the fireplace along another, and there is a counter with stores of canned food and granola bars sitting in one corner. The rest of the space is unoccupied save for Wonho’s backpack and rifle sitting near the door.

Hyungwon studies the house curiously as sunlight begins to fill the room in earnest. He looks down when Wonho’s hold on him tightens slightly, Wonho’s eyes fluttering open.

Wonho raises a hand to rub his eyes, brushing his hair out of his eyes, and Hyungwon bumps their foreheads together. It draws a smile from Wonho, sleepy but still bright. “Good morning,” Wonho mumbles.

“Morning,” Hyungwon replies.

“Seems like we got friendly in the night,” Wonho says jokingly, rubbing his socked foot against Hyungwon’s ankle.

“Better than freezing to death,” Hyungwon says, and Wonho nods.

“True. Do you wanna get up, or…”

“Not really.”

Wonho smiles. “They always come knock on the door if I’m late for breakfast. It’ll be fine.”

“Sounds great to me.”

And, indeed, they do lay there and doze until there’s a knock on the door, Wonho yelling a brief acknowledgement and then pulling himself from Hyungwon’s grasp. Hyungwon reaches for Wonho’s hand, desiring one of those slight, reassuring squeezes.

Wonho takes Hyungwon’s hand in his and pulls him out of bed, running his hands carefully through Hyungwon’s tangled hair. “We should talk later,” Wonho says as he steps away, going for his boots sitting by the door. He snags Hyungwon’s shoes while he’s there, setting them beside Hyungwon’s feet.

“Talk about what?” Hyungwon asks as he leans over to start putting on his worn boots.

“Ourselves, maybe. The world. People we know.” Wonho is silent for a moment, chewing the inside of his lip. “Sorry. I don’t- I’ve never really had a friend. My last real friend died a couple years ago, I’m not… really close with anyone else. I want to be.”

“You don’t have to apologize,” Hyungwon says simply, tying the shoelaces in a few smooth movements and stretching his legs out. After a moment’s thought, he says quietly, “I’m the same.”

It feels like something changes between them, some unspoken shift from _hey we kind of saved each other’s lives_ to _we are friends_.

Breakfast is soup, soup that, as Wonho explains, has been the dinner of choice for almost three days. “This is probably the last of it,” Wonho says as they sit down in the designated cafeteria, which is an actual cafeteria in the elementary school they use as a storage facility.

“This is a cool set up you guys have around here,” Hyungwon says, casting a broad glance around the room at large. “Never would have imagined that the Firefly settlement would be better than Ulsan. But… then again.”

Wonho laughs. “I understand. I was almost raised here, they’ve kept this town under control for almost twenty years.”

“And the military never swept through and cleared it out?”

“Nope. Not sure why. Guess they just didn’t care enough.” Wonho nudges Hyungwon with his elbow then, grinning. “Or they were made up of folks like you.”

Hyungwon snorts. “I guarantee you that any other academy kid would have killed you in a heartbeat.”

“So why didn’t you?”

Hyungwon swirls his spoon around in the broth, scooping up a carrot. “Logic. I had one bullet, so I could have killed you or I could have kept it instead and killed an infected, or someone more alive actively trying to kill me.” Hyungwon pops the carrot in his mouth, then says, “Why didn’t you kill me, then?”

“You had the gun and I didn’t,” Wonho says with a laugh. “I guess I could have killed you when I saw you again, but that’s just petty revenge. Who cares about that.”

“Agreed.”

“Besides,” Wonho pauses to tip his bowl back, drinking down the rest of the broth. He sits his bowl down on the metal table with a dull clang. “If I’d killed you, I wouldn’t be sitting here happy right now. I’d be cold and probably a little sad.”

Hyungwon stays silent, thinking of how to reply. Instead, he asks, “What do we do after this?”

“Those in charge of chores like chopping wood or hunting go about their daily tasks. Others just… do whatever.”

“Well, I guess we will be doing whatever.”

They end up sitting in by the fire in Wonho’s house, facing one another with their knees pressed together. The current conversational topic is parent deaths, which makes Hyungwon laugh inwardly, because what sort of unfortunate world do they live in where this is a viable topic?

“My parents were killed by infected,” Wonho says, and Hyungwon hisses through his teeth. That’s arguably the worst death.

“My mom had pneumonia and never got better, and my dad killed himself.” Hyungwon offers in turn, and Wonho wets his lips, staying silent. Hyungwon laces their fingers together. “I… wasn’t really affected by it. I guess you get so used to death, and I was too busy with academy shit anyway… I didn’t hear about it until almost a week later, and by then it was too late to cry, I guess. I didn’t have the time to cry about it.”

Wonho rubs his thumbs across Hyungwon’s knuckles, taking care around a fading bruise. “I cried, for a very long time. I hate losing people, and my mother was the person I was closest to. But… around this place you have to get over things quickly, deal with them as soon as they happen. I didn’t have the time to cry about it either, not around other people.”

Reassurances rise to Hyungwon’s lips, and he picks through them carefully. In the end, he settles for, “I’m here now,” and Wonho nods, eyes shining.

Hyungwon has never felt so close to someone within such a short time frame, and certainly never felt such fondness. It’s as warm inside him as the fire beside him.

“I don’t think I’m going to leave,” Hyungwon says quietly.

Wonho squeezes his hands. “If you ever do, I’ll go with you.”

Hyungwon watches the sunrise over Wonho’s shoulder and whispers, “I love you.”

Wonho turns to him, eyes wide beneath his overgrown bangs. Then, he smiles, so fond, and replies, “I love you too.”

Hyungwon kisses Wonho’s forehead, brushing his hair back to do so. He can’t help but laugh when Wonho does, Wonho’s hands coming up to hold Hyungwon’s, hair falling back into his face.

Hyungwon supposes that when you’re given just one person in a world like this that doesn’t try to kill you or antagonize you, things happen. Above everything else he’s been feeling in the past few weeks, he is thankful. Thankful he wasn’t cursed to wander the wasteland by himself, thankful the Fireflies did not kill him on sight, even thankful that he doesn’t have to spend another goddamn day in Ulsan.

(Thankful that he doesn’t have to spend another goddamn day _alone_.)

Upon Hyungwon announcing to Hyunwoo and the others at large that he’s planning on staying, they waste no time giving him a chore to do. It’s the job of cleaning up unoccupied houses around the town, which amounts to ransacking them for items that Fireflies may have missed and searching for contraband that Hyunwoo may want to know about. Aside from a couple bottles of scotch, Hyungwon finds nothing but old clothes and some bedsheets, which he brings back to Hyunwoo.

Hyunwoo assures Hyungwon that he is a great help, despite how insignificant it feels to Hyungwon. Hyungwon realizes then that everything anyone does around here is a great help, and that the survival of this town depends on everyone working together. Maybe that is the fault with Q.Z.s.

When Wonho is not busy, he accompanies Hyungwon on his journeys around the town. This day, he tells Hyungwon to ‘wait here’.

Hyungwon sits on the dusty counter and does as he’s told, patting his thighs absently as he watches Wonho retreat away from the house, disappearing around the corner of another building. He shrugs.

Wonho is back within a few minutes, cheeks red from the cold weather. “Okay, here. Follow me!”

He sounds so enthusiastic and Hyungwon figures that, whatever it is, it must be important. So, he slides off the counter and follows Wonho out the door.

When they head into the woods, Hyungwon feels an uneasy bristling due to what could lie beyond the trees. Wonho holds his hand tighter, as if feeling it himself.

“That’s the reason I came out here first,” Wonho says quietly, but his voice still sounds horribly loud. “Areas that are safe one day could not be the next. I didn’t want to assume.”

Hyungwon nods in response. Wonho smiles.

Eventually, they end up in a little clearing, and there are soft daisies and violets at Hyungwon’s feet. Hyungwon looks at them almost in wonder, trying to recall the last time he saw flowers. He can’t properly remember.

“They’ll be dying soon,” Wonho explains, leading Hyungwon carefully to the center of the clearing, then sitting down. Hyungwon follows suit. “I wanted to show you them first. This is my favorite place. Well, next to my bed.”

Hyungwon smiles. He reaches out to gently pluck a daisy up, laying it across one of his legs and looking at the pale yellow petals. “They’re pretty. Charming.”

“Like you,” Wonho says. Hyungwon makes a face.

“Don’t say things like that, it’s embarrassing.” Hyungwon complains, pulling another daisy free of its stem and laying it on Wonho’s leg. “If anything, it’s like you.”

Wonho catches Hyungwon’s hand before he can withdraw it completely, bringing it to his face and kissing his fingertips. Hyungwon can’t help the color that rises to his cheeks. “If you stay until spring and summer,” Wonho starts quietly, pressing Hyungwon’s palm to his cheek and covering it with his hand, “the flowers are prettier. There are more of them, and more kinds. I’d love to show you.”

Hyungwon feels a little out of sorts for a moment, at the concept that someone would care so much about his company that they’d want to show him the things they like the best. In the end, he can’t do much more than smile and nod. “I’d love to see them.”


End file.
